Fancy but Easy Baking – Cheesecakes, Pavlovas, Souflees & Creme Brulees

Desserts, Feature, Ideas — By nicolejaureguy

Whether you’re hosting the upcoming holidays or are invited elsewhere, wow your family and friends with desserts that seem complicated, but aren’t.  Pumpkin and apple pies are ubiquitous with the holiday season, so when I want to show off I try for a dish that sounds like it’s straight off a restaurant dessert menu.  But pick something that doesn’t require a whole lot of steps or hours on your feet only to fail because of some sort of secret pastry chef instinct you don’t possess.  I’ll admit there are lots of easier recipes for desserts that surely taste wonderful, but if you want to really bowl over the guests at your next dinner party, try one of these.  They are much easier than you think.

1.         Cheesecake

Presentation is the key with giving cheesecake that wow factor.  Even if you make the simplest, most basic cheesecake and use a store-bought graham cracker crust, topping it with a fruit or chocolate glaze and plenty of fruit garnish makes this dessert look suddenly time-intensive.  But really, cheesecake is just cream cheese, sugar, flour and eggs mixed together in an electric mixer.  I look for more complicated cheesecake recipes involving caramel, chocolate, mint, coffee or exotic toppings like a passion fruit sauce; and I make my own whipped cream with heavy cream, sugar and an electric mixer.  Avoid frozen or canned fruit; use fresh and follow a simple recipe for the sauce.  Holiday idea: cranberry or pumpkin pie cheesecake.

2.         Pavlova

I was introduced to this dessert by Australian friends.  Pavlova is to Australia and New Zealand as Apple Pie is to the US.  Unless your guests are from down under, they’ll be demanding the recipe.  Don’t give it to them unless you want your secret revealed: this really isn’t that hard to make.  It’s simply a meringue cake.  The ingredients are egg whites, sugar, white vinegar, and cornstarch, topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit.  As long as you have an electric mixer, the hardest part of this dessert is slowly adding the sugar and making sure the meringue isn’t grainy – which is easier if you use superfine sugar.   Also, you should make sure you don’t over bake it!  It should be slightly cracked and cream-colored on the outside and soft marshmallow-y on the inside.  Holiday idea: use winter fruits like pears, blood oranges and pomegranates

3.         Soufflé

I’m not sure how soufflé got its reputation with being such a difficult recipe to make.  But I suppose that makes it easier for us to impress others.  A soufflé is a kind of baked custard; cake-y on the outside, pudding-y on the inside.  I make cheese soufflés as side dishes and chocolate soufflés as dessert.  You start by making the roux, (heating butter and flour in a pan until golden-brown and smooth) then you add the other ingredients one at a time.  Some recipes call for whipping cream, which you whip, and others call for egg whites, which you stiffen – again, not a problem with an electric mixer.  The difficulties lie in separating egg yolks from whites and making sure the sides of your dish(es) are well greased with butter and sugar or parmesan.  This allows the soufflé to rise high above the rim as it bakes.  Also key is to not open the oven until your recipe specifies (something like 20 minutes).  I suppose a successful soufflé is one that does not fall in the center, but I have to say as long as it doesn’t cave in it’s a winner.  I’ve served soufflé with slightly depressed middles and no one noticed.  Holiday idea: spice up the chocolate with ground ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg

4.         Crème Brûlée

This is the most complicated and perhaps most impressive of these recipes.  But still, you’d never suspect that it is as simple as it is.  Of course, a culinary torch is best but I’ve seen recipes for the broiler as well.  I love using a torch to cook so I’ve never tried the broiler, but I don’t see why the broiler wouldn’t work just as well.  Crème brûlée is essentially custard with burnt sugar on top.  You can make a variety of flavors, but vanilla is the most common.  Mix sugar, vanilla and cream over heat until it simmers and then reduce the heat.  Then you add whisked egg yolks and pour into flan dishes/custard cups/ramekins.  To bake, it’s best to place the dishes in a metal baking pan and fill the pan with hot water halfway up the sides of the dishes.  The most fun is spooning sugar evenly over the top and then torching it until it melts and browns.  Holiday idea: peppermint crème brûlée with crushed candy cane mixed into the burnt sugar topping

So for this holiday season pull out all the stops, but that doesn’t mean pulling a muscle.  I have quite a reputation for my pastry chef skills, however, I like to enjoy the desserts I make.  That means not exhausting myself in the kitchen before I can linger at the table with loved ones.

Tags: baking, Desserts, recipe